Look Out!!! Face Paint Scam!

Okay, so I just copied and pasted this off another FP group, so it didn't happen to me, but I just wanted to warn any of you on the east coast...

Well I had thought I had seen/heard most of them, until this past weekend. So, I figured I'd warn you all, especially those that might fall into it. I didn't want to post this, but after talking to many many facepainters I now feel the need to. I will tell you about my personal experience, although others had stories very similar to mine below.

I work 5 fairs a year. Four of them are exclusives. I also hold a few contracts throughout the year that are exclusives. The nice thing with working at a place and having the same exclusive contact for years, is that the contacts become VERY LOYAL .. and tell you more than you should know at times.

Well.. recently I had three of my fairs, tell me about calls they have gotten from other facepainters to get spots. This past weekend I worked a fair, and my contact told me he had 5 people call for a spot and he told them all that there wasn't a spot available. However, he said 1 woman became very angry and argumentative. He told me who it was, since I know the person and also know she was working this past weekend at another fair.

After making a lot of face painting calls to friends the past two days I found out this same woman is now making herself a name as quite the scammer in a lot of areas. (Keep in mind, this woman does NOT live near me!) Other facepainters that were livid about the same thing! Most of them seemed to be in MA, others in CT. The thing that really is irritating though, is it this person is only "securing" a prime fair spot, and then making money by offering it to others, but getting a big booth fee, by taking proceeds which are WAY over what the portion of a booth fee would be. She is NOT working the fair herself.

If someone is contacting you to work a fair booth, be forewarned. USUALLY people will charge you a booth fee, but it will be negotiated in advanced. I know when I get someone to paint with me, we just divide the booth fee equally. Charging the amount this woman is charging is immoral and totally wrong. She is scamming everyone, and sitting back and collecting a paycheck, for doing nothing more than calling every fair within 3 or four hours to book spots.

Also.. be forewarned.. almost every fair I do, I am required to have insurance. UNLESS you have your own insurance and you agree to work under this condition, you are breaking a contract with a fair. (Each painter needs insurance under typical circumstances. You can NOT work under this person's insurance.)

As you can tell, I am irritated, but so are many of the close face painter friends I have in the area. What goes around comes around. The word is definately out.

I do feel bad for the one friend of mine that received a call stating that she was not needed at a fair from a woman two days before the fair was to start, only to find out that was a scam too, (The fair never called her, it was a competitor.) and someone else is now in line to get her spot. You can bet your butt we go in forces to see who that person is next year!

People need to remember, the face painting world is SMALL. Word gets around. I just hope the newbies to the business find out before they commit to something and get screwed. I don't know what this business is coming to at times, some people are just too money hungry and have no morals at all.

WOW that's harsh! I can't even imagine doing something like that to someone else. Thanks for the heads up tho

Wow.... some people just have no shame at all do they? And that bit about the competition calling the person to tell them they weren't needed under the guise of the fair people is just ... just.... flabbergasting!

Wow, I am always amazed at how low some people will stoop. Thanks for the heads up.

Wow! Thank you for the heads up. I don't do a lot of festivals, but I like to team up w/ a painter I know & split the fees. I love making $ as much as the next guy/gal & feel so blessed I can make it doing what I love, but this is just wrong. I hope he/she sees what his/her piers think & realizes it'll ostracize his/her. I love this community of talented people & feel blessed to be a part of them. I can't believe someone would call & pretend to be an organizer & cancel their contract.

I saw this on Kim Hatch' list. It is going on in the area south of me. Haven't heard of anyone getting scammed in VT yet but then again there doesn't seem to be that many painters here. What a low thing to do though!!!!!!!!! I wonder if something could be done legally because it seems as if it should be illegal to pull this.

Well, it is illegal if they're offering insurance that's not valid.

That is SO bloody messed up!! Why can't people just man the hell up and make an HONEST living? And wow about calling a facepainter pretending to be the festival. That's INSANE.

I always wonder how people that do things like this look at themselves in the mirror each morning. I guess some folks can rationalize anything.

Scary! Thanks for the heads up

The sad thing is that for some, the prospect of money in pocket is enough to drive the provebial dagger in the backs of anybody who stands in the way of said money. I've heard the tales of face painters who have stabbed everyone from family to close friends in the back for the sake of getting money or establishing themselves. It's insane really because at the end of the day, they have to live with themselves and the self justifications only last for so long. In a way, I could see where someone would have no qualms about messing over another non-acquaintence, but people are back stabbing family members as well... I believe you reap what you sow and eventually, all of the spoils of treachery will be the down fall of the unscrupulous. Okay...off my soap box.

OK, this may sound weird, but it's just money. It comes & it goes. I like that I can make $ doing this, but more satisfying & fun are the new & fun people I'm meeting along this journey!

I understand that it's just money and just face painting. And in the scope of things sometime there are more important concerns - however one's livelyhood and ability to live in the mainstream (not in a cardboardbox) is at the top of all our concerns.

If this what you have been doing as a full time career for 10 - 25 years and it is your main and only source of income you are less likely to think of it as "just".

Competition has put some serious hurt on friends of mine. Fine competition is and has always been there, but there are far more painters in the last 2 yrs. Many are/have undercut th market in pricing and some are using dirty tactics such as scams and bad mouthing. Wrong is wrong.

And my hot water bill (I've grown fond of warm showers) and my mortgage (I also become fond of a room over my head) is not "just" money. It is lifeblood.

It is one thing if you do this "on the side" is isn't so important to have the steady income, but to affect one's livelyhood, people who depend on this as their income ,is wrong.

I second that, rmplemintz...unfortunately, that whole "free country" thing is running strong and morals and ethics are considered outdated by many who feel that even making $20 for a 1-hour give puts $20 into their pockets that they didn't have before the gig (of course, if they were savvy, they'd realize that they were really putting something like $8 after the gas, vehicle wear, supply costs, ect.).

Loretta,
So sorry, I did not mean to be offensive. What I was saying & probably didn't make clear was that being undermined & playing dirty(as the painter in this thread had done) was not worth the extra $ it brought them. I know the economy stinks & I know how many new painters there are(I've been face painting for 5 yrs & now it's the difference between food on the table & bills met). I hope you understand better what I meant. I respect you as a person & as a painter & would never intentionally say something disrespectful.

Sweet Loretta wrote:I understand that it's just money and just face painting. And in the scope of things sometime there are more important concerns - however one's livelyhood and ability to live in the mainstream (not in a cardboardbox) is at the top of all our concerns.

If this what you have been doing as a full time career for 10 - 25 years and it is your main and only source of income you are less likely to think of it as "just".

Competition has put some serious hurt on friends of mine. Fine competition is and has always been there, but there are far more painters in the last 2 yrs. Many are/have undercut th market in pricing and some are using dirty tactics such as scams and bad mouthing. Wrong is wrong.

And my hot water bill (I've grown fond of warm showers) and my mortgage (I also become fond of a room over my head) is not "just" money. It is lifeblood.

FYI, just read the posts on the other forum. Turns out it's not a scam & there was some confusion. It's too much to go into & pretty confusing, but thought you'd all want to know.